Chapter 1281 Icon Hall

Talos's sky-reaching holy light not only affected the Sunburn Tower in the secular country, but its light also penetrated the chaotic vortex in the center of the world of Koro and appeared in the eyes of the people in the holy realm.

For many days, the sanctuary has been shrouded in a tense and depressing atmosphere. The continuous weakening of Asuman's light has approached the final limit. The order shield covering the floating continent has become so thin that it is almost indistinguishable to the naked eye. , the power of darkness and chaos in the endless void is constantly surging outside the barrier, like an upside-down sea, ready to cover the entire continent at any time - such a terrifying scene weighs heavily on the hearts of every Sanctuary person, this once A glorious and proud race is now gripped by frustration and despair.

But suddenly, a bright light lit up from the other side of the dim chaos. The bright light tore through the boundary between space and time, lighting up the space outside the barrier as if splitting the sky in two. This scene made everyone In addition to the shock, groundless hope arose out of thin air.

In the eyes of the Sanctuary people who devoutly believe in the goddess of creation, this light is almost a miracle. It seems to indicate the end of the dark moment. Although the light gradually dissipates after ten minutes, it has already inspired the continent. Many people on.

However, most of the people who were inspired were ordinary people, and the real upper-level managers did not dare to be optimistic rashly.

Pope August VII summoned all the cardinals and bachelors in the pure white hall of the Icon Palace. Under the eternal light of the pure white hall, these most wise and authoritative theologists and erudition in the world of Colo The family was discussing the impact of the previous light. August VII was sitting on the high papal throne, listening to the report of one of the cardinals.

"Under the crown, we have determined that the light comes from the Ansu continent, but we cannot determine the specific location. The fog of chaos has shrouded the trajectory of each continent. Now we cannot observe any specific land. We can only roughly estimate it based on the world model. The current positions of other continents are estimated, but as Chaos becomes more and more rampant, the accuracy of such position calculations also decreases."

Floating next to the cardinal who spoke was a set of exquisite models carved with magic gems. These models used amazing craftsmanship to restore the details of the five floating continents and dozens of larger floating islands in the world of Koro. Running slowly in the air, the approximate position of each piece of land in the Sea of ​​Karnos is simulated based on some ancient data.

However, due to the influence of chaotic tides, the accuracy of this model is actually not very high.

"The continent of Ansu... is very good," August VII rubbed his forehead, "Asuman's revelation has been confirmed once again. There is a miracle descended by the goddess of creation on that continent."

"The pillar of light caused a great stir among the common people and the lower clergy," another bishop stood up. "The good news is that our morale is recovering, the explanation of the pillar of light has been spread, and it is now recognized as inspirational. A miracle. But there is also bad news: after the light pillar disappeared, everything returned to normal, Asuman's light is still weakening, and the barrier over the sanctuary has not been strengthened. The effectiveness of this miracle may diminish over time— —If no new miracle happens."

"That light is just a sign. It is a message from the Kingdom of God in order for us to persevere in this dark age. We should fight bravely in the darkness to respond to the will of the goddess," August said slowly Said slowly, "People in the Holy Land never give up hope. This has been the case throughout the ages."

Another bishop stood up: "The output power of the Holy Mountain Asuman has dropped by one percent again. Its weakening speed has stabilized. It is estimated that there will be no more sudden fluctuations. However, if this trend continues, there will be at most another In half a month, we will completely lose the barrier, and by that time, the Holy Land will be plunged into darkness like the mortal world, and we will fight on this sacred land - the blood of Chaos will defile the Holy Land."

"Then we will fight against them, just like those secular kingdoms," another bishop said loudly. "The secular kingdoms can fight bravely and never retreat, and the people of the Holy Land will certainly not retreat. We have been in emergency situations all over the continent. We built the Tower of Fire and the Tower of Sunburn, and with the remaining power of Asuman, these towers can allow us to survive this tide of chaos."

"The key is the next century - if Asuman cannot recover, it will be useless for us to survive this tide, and we cannot leave the burden to future generations. I still insist on repairing Asuman as the first priority, and I have a plan …”

The bishops once again fell into a debate on this topic. Various immature or fanciful plans were proposed, and then rejected one by one by themselves. In such debates, the inner court bachelors also argued hard based on reason, and faced the bishop tit for tat. Each of them is a sincere and good person - working hard for the future of the world and the safety of the sanctuary. However, with mortal wisdom, it is difficult to solve the ultimate problem.

Holy Mountain Asuman.

The second half of the meeting was almost fruitless, and August VII had to shout to stop everyone from arguing. After the bishops and scholars all left the pure white hall, the Pope stood up tiredly. His body, which was no longer youthful, made a sound of joints. He felt that the crown on his head was so heavy that it seemed to break his neck. The Chinese robe also binds the hands and feet like shackles.

The attendant immediately stepped forward. This middle-aged man, who had followed August VII for thirty years, saw the deep tiredness on the pope's face. He helped the latter take off the heavy golden crown, and then took the crown. Scepter: "Your Majesty, do you want to go back to the palace to rest?"

"No," the pope waved his hand, "let's go to the icon hall."

The attendant blinked, as if he was a little surprised by the answer, but the habit he had developed over the years made him swallow his doubts and just nodded slightly.

Hall of Icons - From its name, you can tell that it has special significance in this palace of icons. This hall is almost the most magnificent space in the Icon Palace, and it is also the most sacred place. Starting from the pure white hall, you need to pass through three corridors, two inner courtyards, and two long halls to reach its entrance. The Pope is no longer young, and he is not willing to use convenient magic when going to the sanctuary, so he walked for almost an hour before arriving in front of the icon hall.

The attendant pushed open the golden-red door, the Pope straightened his clothes and stepped into the hall.

The hall is vast and empty, without any tables, chairs or anything else. There are only two rows of tall columns arranged in parallel, extending from one end of the hall to the other. Bright light shines from a series of circular holes above the hall, filling the entire space. There seemed to be a layer of white holy light floating in it.

On both sides of the hall, behind the two rows of columns, huge lifelike statues are sitting quietly, majestic and sacred.

August VII walked forward along the central axis of the hall, bathed in the gaze of the two rows of icons, as if accepting the review of the ancient kings, full of piety and abandoning distracting thoughts.

This is the Hall of Iconos. Its name comes from the sacred statues in the hall, and even the name of the entire Icon Palace is named after it.

No one knows who shaped these statues, not even the founder of the Order has left a word - this room existed long before the establishment of the Order, and the twenty-one icons seem to come from a time before mortals. , and the entire Icon Palace is just an expanded building shell based on the original "Icon Hall". As time goes by, popes have changed from generation to generation, secular kingdoms have changed from generation to generation, but only the mysterious colossus in this icon hall has remained unchanged from ancient times to the present.

If these giant statues stood up, they would be ten meters high, but their size is far from their most eye-catching feature. What really makes people marvel and even awe is the lifelike appearance of these giant statues: although they are made of stone, they look like real people. Generally speaking, the eyebrows are clear and the beard and hair are neat, as if a group of real living rock giants are sitting here. They are not like sculptures, but like sleeping living creatures.

This makes everyone tremble when they step into the Hall of Icons for the first time. Even August VII still remembers the fear and uneasiness he felt when he first stepped into this place.

But that is all in the past. Now he has become the pope, stepping into the hall of icons and accepting the gaze of each colossus. This is no longer a daunting challenge, but a baptism for the soul and heart.

The Pope walked all the way to the end of the hall and was about to come to the icon known as the "King of Kings". However, at this moment, he suddenly stopped and stared in the direction he came from with wide eyes.

The two rows of giant statues were silent as always, their cold stone faces expressionless, and their eyes were staring straight at the center of the hall, seemingly unchanged.

But August VII had a creepy feeling coming from his heart.

He shook his head. He hadn't felt this way in years, and he was surprised at why he was so out of control.

At that moment, he felt that what was looking at him was no longer the glorious ancient kings, but something indescribable and terrifying. Those empty eyes fell on him, making him panic and feel like he was falling into the abyss. illusion.

The old pope calmed down and shook the weird illusion out of his mind. He turned around and bowed down devoutly in front of the icon of the "King of Kings".

"Ancient wardens, please give me clear instructions..."

The deep voice of the old pope echoed in front of the icon of the King of Kings.

Then the sound stopped suddenly.